Intent - Tumblr Posts
Witchcraft Is...
Witchcraft is allowing your own abilities, wants, and needs to shape and contort the physical world. It is an ability that everyone is born with. Every person is able to tap into this ability - this power - and utilize it for their own gain or for the gain of others. It is neither selfish nor humble. It just is.
If everyone can be a witch, is there any kind of limit? No. Every single person can be a witch. People who are polytheistic can be witches. People who are monotheistic can be witches. People who are agnostic can be witches. People who are atheists can be witches. Christians can be witches. Satanists can be witches. Wiccans can be witches. Every single person can be a witch.
Witchcraft does not mean that you have to perform elaborate rituals or spells. It does not mean that you have to do anything that you don’t want to do. You don’t have to help everyone. You don’t have to help anyone. You can choose to help yourself only. You can choose to only help animals and nature. You can choose to help others. But you don’t have to.
It is important for everyone to know that you don’t have to do ANYTHING and you can still call yourself a witch if you believe in the power that flows through every living, breathing thing. Witchcraft can be felt in a stream flowing over rocks. Witchcraft can be felt as the wind blows through your hair. Witchcraft can be felt when you pick up a quartz or calcite crystal found in the road. Witchcraft is everywhere and the presence of it can be felt in all things.
Witchcraft is not tearing someone apart because they believe in something different than you. Witchcraft can be used for protection. It can be used to see the deeper meaning in all things. It can be used to help others or yourself.
If you curse someone, you are still a witch. If you don’t use curses or hexes, you are still a witch. If you don’t practice spells, you are still a witch. All you want to do is use magick in yoga and meditation? You can still be a witch. Don’t have all of the fancy tools that books tell you that you need? You are still a witch. You want to use things that you found in a dollar store? You are still a witch. Do you only practice spells and rituals in your daydreams? You are still a witch.
You are a witch if you say you are a witch. YOU ARE A WITCH IF YOU SAY YOU ARE A WITCH! No one can take that away from you. Your power is yours and if you want to utilize it then utilize it. Do not let anyone tell you that you are doing anything wrong. Your practice is yours. Own your craft. Own your power. A witch is only as powerful as he/she/they would like to be.
I am a witch because I chose to take on that term for my practice. My husband will refer to himself as a warlock because that is the term that he has chosen for himself. Others may find warlock to be a taboo term - they don’t agree with it. But my husband likes the term and believes that it is the proper term for him.
In witchcraft, you are what you make yourself to be. I am powerful because I want to be. My husband is powerful because he wants to be. We, witches, are powerful because we want to be. Do not let anyone take that away from you.
You are a witch if you say you are and no one can take that away from you.
Definition of Leadership
The definition of leadership is "Guiding Intent with Integrity".
I found the definition back in 2007 while working on my Masters of Science in Business Management, and working with the Man Kind Project. Over the years I've collected information to help prove the definition. But this blog is not about proving the definition, but helping you understand how to use the definition to help yourself.
So, what does it mean to guide? How does intent affect this guidance? And, why does whether or not a person has integrity affect their ability to lead people?
To guide someone could be as simple as providing advice, or providing directions, or doing nothing at all while that person struggles to figure something out.
Intent is the reason why that person is doing what they are doing. Is there guidance to help or hurt the person?
Integrity is the hardest part of this equation to understand, until you understand how integrity and the social contract are intertwined. The social contract or the gentleman's agreement is the understanding between two people on what is expected from the agreement.
And what is the goal? Why do you need someone to lead you? If there is no place to go? That place to go is your goal.
Now comes the hardest part of the definition. There are many ways to guide, many versions of intent, and just as many people with different levels of integrity. How can all these people be leaders?
There is another set of questions that must be asked about leadership.
Who is guiding who?
Where are they guiding you?
Why are they guiding you?
What will they get in return for guiding you?
How are they guiding you?
What purpose does this guiding serve?
Or put another way:
The Guide
The Guiding
Where
How
Reasons
Purpose
These six (6) different categories create 1000's of different types of leadership styles. Which is why after decades of searching for a definition of leadership many scientists gave up. No plausible pattern emerged that described what a leader was, since just about everyone can be a leader at any point in their life.
While the general understanding of a leader was someone that lead a group of people, a simple store clerk leading you to a can of tomatoes is just as much a leader. This flies in the face of what many people understand about leadership, since they expect a leader to be in a position of power, but isn't that what's happening with the store clerk? Have you given them control of your life for just a moment to guide you to that can of tomatoes?
As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, the purpose of this article is to help you understand what leadership is. So in the blogs that follow, hopefully I can provide additional detail into the nuances of leadership. There's a lot to talk about, and most of that research that scientists have collected can now be reviewed in light of this definition. Maybe along the way, we'll find a way to prove the definition as well.
Can Leadership be Taught?
Leadership is not an innate trait built into genetic code, nor is leadership provided through the "Divine Right of Gaud". No instead it is a natural phenomena that can be nurtured and taught. There are many reasons why some people seem to become great leaders and others don't become leaders at all. But that is for another article, in this article I'd like to discuss the topic of teaching individuals how to become leaders.
Leadership is guiding intent with integrity. These three qualitative values "Guiding", "Intent", and "Integrity" work together to help people choose a style of leadership that works for them personally as well as works for the group they are guiding. The first step in teaching someone to be a leader is to help them see the vast range of methods used to guide.
Guiding someone is not an art. Someone asks a question, you give an answer. You point them in a direction. You provide them with feedback on what has happened. You console them. The guidance provided though is based on your intent.
Your partner asks you if this looks good, how do you respond and why do you respond in that manner? Do you tell them that they look good even when they don't? Do you tell them that they don't look good in that outfit? Is the outfit appropriate for the environment you are going to attend? Or do you find another way to help them towards their goal?
Intent isn't just about your intent, it's also about their intent. What is it that they intended for themselves. If your partner wants to look good, then the language you use will help guide them to a better choice. Or the language you use will trigger an emotional episode. Is your intent to make them emotionally dependent on you, or emotionally dependent?
Finally there is integrity. Integrity has many different synonyms that mean roughly the same thing: accountability, ethics, morality, virtue, sound, honest, chaste, and so on. In the sense that we will use integrity here, it is in relation to the social contract.
The social contract is the written or verbal agreement made between the leader and the follower. The accountability determines whether or not the leader and the follower are following this social contract, and if not how are they correcting each others deviation from the contract? Are they demanding that the contract be adhered to, are they penalizing each other for not holding to the contract, are they talking about the contract as malleable or are they looking at the social contract as the target they want to reach?
There are many different things that the social contract can become. It can become a beacon of hope, or a weapon to beat each other up with. It depends on how the contract is designed and what it is designed to do. As this is an agreement between two people, the contract can always be re-evaluated and adjusted as needed. But, in order for that to occur, both parties need to be willing to examine how the contract is affecting themselves and see how the contract is affecting others.
A good question to determine if the social contract or integrity of the people involved is in line, is to ask, "What is the goal?" Many people use rules that determine a persons integrity. Above 50% and you're good, below 50% and you're bad. However, in many games there is the goal at end of the field. In order to reach that goal all parties have to work together to reach it. So, if the social contract is written at the 50 yard line, then the parties involved are constantly battling over who is in integrity. But if the social contract is written with a focus on the goal, then every play that helps everyone move towards the 100 yard becomes a positive reinforcing step in the right direction.
While the short answer is that leadership can be taught, there is a lot to learn about what affects leadership. While looking at Guiding, Intent, Integrity, and the Goal we also learned that language and the social contract play an important role in the guidance given. We can make people dependent on us or independent on us. We can celebrate the small victories or fight over the small upsets, the question is what is used to measure progress, and where is the goal marker?
Further Incites into the Definition of Leadership
Not sure how different this is from previous posts. I think I've added a few more things that help clarify leadership.
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The definition of leadership is “Guiding Intent with Integrity”. Leaders have followers, non-followers, outsiders, and observers. Followers follow the leader’s guidance towards the goal / vision. Non-followers have vehemently opposed to follow the leader or the goal / vision, and may work to undermine the group’s ability to achieve the goal. Outsiders do not care one way or the other about the leader, the groups or the visions. An observer may be a follower, non-follower, or outsider, their role is to provide feedback on the group’s progress towards their goal / vision.
Guidance is council concerning the steps needed to achieve the goal / vision. Intent or intentions are the reasons driving each individual to either be part of the group, not part of the group, or work against the group. These reasons may or may not be expressed. Integrity is based on the Social Contract or agreement held between the leader and the group.
People choose to follow a goal / vision, due to the Human Condition. The human condition concerns the plurality of culture and personal values, the standards of evaluation, the satisfaction of basic needs, the maintenance of cultural identity, and reasonable conceptions of well being. In conjunction with the Change Formula, humans want a better life, and are willing to overcome their dissatisfaction with the status quo, by imagining a future that is better than the present. In this instance the challenge is convincing others that change is needed, or showing them a path through change that improves their lives. Based on their belief that they can achieve a better life, they will either become leaders of change, follow the guidance and council of others to achieve it, or become part of a movement.
“The true nature of power isn't about strength or control, it’s about relating to people”, Bleach, (Japanese Manga) episode 250.
✨ Days Of the Week + Magick ✨
Each day of the week is ruled by a planet which possesses specific magickal influences. Use this knowledge to further your own practices!
MONDAY (MOON): Peace, sleep, healing, compassion, friends, psychic awareness, purification, fertility.
TUESDAY (MARS): Passion, sex, courage, aggression, protection.
WEDNESDAY (MERCURY): The conscious mind, study, travel, divination, wisdom.
THURSDAY (JUPITER): Expansion, money, prosperity, generosity.
FRIDAY (VENUS): Love, friendship. reconciliation, beauty.
SATURDAY (SATURN): Longevity, exorcism, endings, homes, houses.
SUNDAY (SUN): Healing, spirituality, success, strength, protection.
(Credit to Llewellyn’s magical almanac. Happy spellcasting)!
Stone and Crystal Correspondences
I found an awesome app today called Stone and I really like it! {Find it here for iPhone} It has really nice photos and funny, helpful descriptions of each entry. I’m going to make a list of each stone that’s included and the tags/correspondences the app gives for each; think of it as a gift to you all in appreciation of the 3,000 follower milestone we hit today, haha.
The app is free, and if you’re interested in the subject matter, it’s a good one to download! 👍
Amazonite: love • communication • calm
Amber: cleansing • vitality • protection
Amethyst: cleansing • protection • clarity
Apophyllite: intuition • insight • vitality
Aquamarine: cleansing • clarity • calm
Aragonite: strength • balance • confidence
Azurite: dreamwork • balance • calm
Barite: intuition • insight • dreamwork
Bismuth: focus • transformation • vitality
Black Tourmaline: grounding • cleansing • protection
Bloodstone: strength • cleansing • transformation • courage • manifestation • vitality
Blue Kyanite: intuition • insight • communication
Carnelian: strength • passion • courage • confidence • motivation • vitality
Celestite: intuition • protection • calm
Chrysocolla: strength • insight • communication
Citrine: love • passion • intuition • confidence • manifestation • creativity
Copper: grounding • balance • vitality
Dalmatian Stone: joy • protection • calm
Desert Rose: insight • clarity • courage
Emerald: love • balance • vitality
Epidote: manifestation • transformation • motivation
Fluorite: insight • focus • clarity
Garnet: passion • creativity • manifestation
Green Calcite: love • balance • calm
Hematite: grounding • balance • manifestation
Honey Calcite: confidence • motivation • manifestation
Howlite: creativity • focus • calm
Jasper: grounding • balance • strength
Jet: grounding • cleansing • vitality
Labradorite: creativity • joy • vitality
Lapis Lazuli: insight • transformation • calm
Lemon Quartz: joy • balance • vitality
Magnesite: balance • insight • calm
Malachite: strength • creativity • confidence
Meteorite: intuition • insight • vitality
Moldavite: dreamwork • cleansing • transformation • manifestation • vitality • insight
Moonstone: intuition • insight • dreamwork
Orange Calcite: passion • creativity • vitality
Peridot: manifestation • vitality • transformation
Pyrite: passion • strength • focus • manifestation • creativity • confidence
Quartz: cleansing • clarity • transformation
Rhodochrosite: love • joy • courage
Rhodonite: love • transformation • clarity
Ruby: passion • strength • protection • courage • vitality • motivation
Scolecite: dreamwork • insight • calm
Selenite: cleansing • clarity • motivation
Shungite: cleansing • clarity • transformation
Smoky Quartz: protection • clarity • calm
Sodalite: intuition • insight • dreamwork
Tektite: vitality • communication • transformation
Tibetan Black Quartz: balance • protection • cleansing
Tiger Eye: strength • balance • confidence
Titanium Quartz: strength • confidence • focus
Tourmalined Quartz: cleansing • protection • clarity
Turquoise: strength • balance • communication
Vanadinite: creativity • motivation • vitality
Witch Tip
When cleaning mirrors (like regular mirrors not scrying mirrors lmao) wipe the window cleaner you use clockwise, with the intent of self love and/or always looking good. Optionally, get a dry erase marker and draw a sigil for self love or looking good, and wipe away with your window cleaner to cast it, smile at yourself to charge!
Back to School Crystals!
Many of you have either started school back up already or are about to. Here’s a short list of crystals to help you out with the basic pains of formal education.
Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6; The Crystal Healer by Philip Permutt, Crystal Energy by Mary Lambert
Witching Hour Playlist on Spotify
Ten straight hours of witchy music for every possible mood.
Makes a great ambient soundtrack for casting charms, writing spells, tending your garden, meditating on lofty matters, cleaning the altar, chatting with your familiar, having tea with the coven, or just turning your face to the wind and remembering your power.
Warding meditation
This is about a 20-30min meditation.
Start by focusing yourself on your breath for 5 minutes.
Go back to a forest or other outdoor natural setting. Find your sacred space, your personal clearing in the woods that is only yours. It can be a picnic, a tent or a shack. You’ve decorated it yourself with herbs and a circle of flat, white rocks. There are two bushes there, stinging nettle, for protection. Be sure not to touch it.
Sit here and notice your body, where your feet are, how your ankles and knees are bent, where your arms are. Bring your attention to your skin. We’re going to put a silver metal onto it. Imagine the liquid silver climbing up from your toes, up your legs, across your stomach, and up your back, over your shoulders, and up over your head and face. Let the metal harden like armor, able to move when you move but hard enough to keep out anything. Sit and feel what this changes in yourself and how the outside feels like now.
Now imagine this silver armor expanding like an egg around you and encompassing your aura. It is dark in here, in the silver metal. You can place your palm on the metal surface and feel its smoothness.
Expand the silver out further until it is as big as your space, enclosing the picnic and even bigger to gather in the entire clearing which is yours. Let it reach into the trees and form a nice, smooth circle along the ground.
You can barely see the trees here. Let’s make the silver translucent. The hard material changes color, turns to glass, but unbreakable. We can see the trees now, the sun shining down, through the dome. Set your intention to your dome: to be safe, to ward against all influences and spirits not in accordance with your own energy, with peace and quiet.
Lastly. let’s change its material. Let that hard dome shift in an instant to a cloud, airy and still there, still filled with your intent, but we are able to pass through it easily now, able to let our thoughts breathe through it.
Finish by creating a little project here. Gather some twigs or rocks or feathers and flowers and create a symbol or sigil of protection with them.
A pentagram, a spiral going counter-clockwise, circles within squares and squares within circles. As you create, send your intention into your symbols and creation.
Your space is now protected. Sit and feel the difference in its energy. Come back with a big inhalation. Ground afterward with a snack.
420 Friendly Witch Tips
Just so you know, I’m of age in a state where weed is legal. If you’re not in a legal area or age range, I wouldn’t recommend this. And it’s not for everyone! If you’re not interested that’s more than okay! It’s YOUR craft for a reason! I’ve just tailored mine to me a little bit here too.
I smoke on a pretty regular basis, both recreationally and for things such as anxiety and other mental health reasons. I’ve realized that there are a lot of reasons it has such a calming effect. It could be breath work, could be visual stimulation from the smoke swirls, it could be that it’s easier to let my thoughts come and go without lingering on them. Either way, I realized that I could incorporate that zen into my craft. Here are some of the ways I do that!
1. Moon water in your bong
2. smoke cleansing your space/crystals,etc
3.Visualizing internal cleansing as you inhale and exhale
4. Add intent to each hit. After all, you’re taking a deep breath, why not focus your energy on something you’d like to come to fruition? I manifest a clear, level head.
5. I haven’t quite worked with deities yet, but I’ve seen many others say that sharing or dedicating a bowl to your deities can be something they like, depending on who you work with. I don’t know much about deities, so I’ll stop here.
6. Ashes. Weed ashes can be used in spellwork, similar to incense ash and other forms.
7. I personally like to smoke a little, meditate for a moment, and then do a couple of tarot readings. I find I’m more open when I smoke
8. In reference to number 7, I also bought a smoke blend meant to be mixed with weed (or tobacco but that’s not my vibe), that has things like mugwort, lavender, valerian, and more that’s specifically used to help open the third eye and your senses. I bought through the company called Bear Blend (not a sponsor, I honestly don’t think they know I exist). I chose this brand since it’s a small indigenous run business, and as a small town native person, I tend to support as many indigenous businesses I can.
I hope this was helpful, and remember to please make wise decisions based on the laws in your area. I don’t recommend this to anyone underage or in a place where it is illegal. If you choose to make an unwise decision, please don’t hold me liable. And again, if its not your cup of tea, don’t worry about it! Your craft is for you to enjoy.